Telltale device for games of skill



June 1936. H. G. BREITENSTEIN 2,042,873

TELLTALE DEVICE FOR GAMES OF SKILL Filed April 5, 1934 7 2 55 1; 58 hard 0r g r jj rberjl Patented June 2, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Herbert G. Breitenstein, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Raymond T. Moloney, Chicago, 111.

Application April 5, 1934, Serial No. 719,075

10 Claims.

The invention relates to a tell-tale device for amusement and skill games, especially of the coin released, pin and ball type.

These amusement devices comprise an inclined play board having holes through which balls may fall that are projected over the board. The holes are usually given definite scoring values, and if a sufficiently high total score is attained, it is common for the owner of the amusement device to reward the player by giving him some sort of an award. In fact, some of these amusement devices are provided with a dispensing mechanism which is automatically operative to dispense a reward upon the attainment of certain score totals. In practice it is found that because of these inducements to play, unscrupulous persons try dishonestly to lodge balls in the scoring holes by tilting the game board for the purpose of directing the balls into the desired holes. Tell-tale devices have therefore been provided to make the play cheat proof, such devices serving, when the game board is tilted, to make the scoring and pay off mechanism inoperative.

The main object of the present invention is to 25 provide an improved tell-tale device for the purpose stated, which will, without question, make the amusement game, absolutely cheat proof from the standpoint of tilting.

Another object is to provde a tell-tale device 30 which will be of simple construction that cannot get out of order.

Another object is to provide a tell-tale device in an electric circuit and operative to control the operation of an auxiliary electric pay-ofi dispenser.

Further objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, as the disclosure is more fully made.

Briefly, these desirable objects are attained in the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of illustration, by providing a cylindrical unit comprising a horizontal dish-shaped member in the center of which is arranged a vertical plunger, the unit being secured to the game board and the plunger being slidably mounted therethrough. The plunger carries a spring pressed ball supporting supplementary plunger. The device is set through the operation of the coin release mechanism, which causes the ball to 0 seat on the supplementary plunger in a position raised somewhat above the level of the bottom of the dish. As long as the ball is so seated the circuit is closed and the game mechanism is in condition for honest playing. Should, however, the

55 board be tilted, the ball dislodges from its seat on the supplementary plunger causing the said plunger to be raised by its spring to open the electric circuit to make the pay off of the game inoperative. To reset the ball on the supplementary plunger to close the circuit again, the coin 5 release slide must receive a coin, the movement of the slide being utilized to allow the main plunger to drop sufiiciently to allow the dish to cause the ball to roll onto its normal seat on the supplementary plunger. Then as the coin l0 slide retracts the plunger raises to seat the ball in its normal position again. So much will suffice togive a general idea of the structure, which has been shown in detail in the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a general plan view of an amusement game of the type with which the improved tell-tale device may be used;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view through the lower, or player end of the game, 29 showing the tell-tale device and the coin released parts that cooperate therewith, the section being substantially along the line 2-2, appearing in Figure l;

, Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view centrally through the tell-tale device showing the position of the ball on its rest when the coin release slide is pushed in; and,

Figure 4 is a similar sectional view, on an enlarged scale with the ball positioned as it would 30 be after the game has been tilted.

As shown, the amusement game herein illustrated comprises a box I9 closed at its top in the usual way by a glass panel or cover H. A game board 12 is mounted in the box and slopes downwardly toward the front or player end of the game, said board being provided with a plurality of traps, in the form of holes l3.

One side of the game carries a ball projector or shooter l4, operable by a handle IE, to shoot balls, one at a time, around an oval passage or track Hi, the balls emerging at H onto the inclined board. In the usual way the balls gravitate down the sloped board into the holes l3. Spent balls missing the holes l3 are received by a hole l8 adjacent the score registering device l9.

Underneath the play broad is a second sloping board 20 having means of any appropriate form, not important in this disclosure, to direct balls falling through the holes I3 to the registering device 19 to operate the same. The board 20 at its lower end terminates under the device l9 and in a well known manner by means not shown, temporarily collects the played balls until such time as the panel 20, which by the way is slidingly mounted, is pushed, or slid forwardly to release the accumulated balls, to cause them to drop into a chute, not shown, that leads them to a ball lifter, not shown, in turn operable to elevate the balls, one at a time, in position to be shot by the shooter 4, all as well known in this art.

A coin release slide 2| is slidably carried in the front wall of the box it, said slide having an extension 22 to abut a post 23 on the panel 20. When the slide 2| is released by the proper coin, it is pushed rearwardly into the box, causing the extension 22 to abut the post 23 and slide the panel 20 back, or to the right as shown in the drawing. The front, left hand corner of the panel 29 carries a cam plate presenting a curved cam track 24 to which is connected an electric wire lead 25.

The tell-tale device, of the present invention is located on and secured to the top side of the play board i2, and comprises a circular member 26 made of insulation material. Said member is located above the cam track 24, and is dished out to provide a concave well 21 bounded by a shallow peripheral upright wall 28. The concave dish part is horizontally disposed so that a metal ball 29 therein always tends to roll toward the center of the well. It is of interest to note that the ball is of a larger diameter than the distance between the top of the wall 28 and the glass cover 5|, so that the ball can never be forced out of the well.

The member 26 is provided with a central, vertical bore 39 in which is tightly press-fitted a vertical, metal sleeve 3| which extends through and slightly below the board 2, there being a contact 32 and an electric circuit wire 33 connected to said lower end of the sleeve 3|. Just below its upper end the sleeve 3| is relieved to form a circulanhorizontal shoulder 34.

Slidably arranged in this sleeve 3l-is a vertical metal plunger member 35 which at its upper end has a horizontal flange 36 which at times seats or rests on the shoulder 34. The lower end of this plunger is formed as a reduced, threaded extension 31 to which is screw threaded a sleeve 38 of insulating material, said sleeve 38 in turn at its lower end, carrying a metal cap 39, the bottom of which is rounded toride on the cam track 24. The'cap 39 carries a contact 40.

The plunger 35 is provided with a central vertical bore in which is slidably fitted a metal, supplementary plunger 4|, the lower end of which is reduced to form a contact 42 adapted at times t -engage the contact 49. The top end of this second plunger 4| is formed with a concave ball seat head 43, there being a spring 44 between the head and a shoulder 45 formed in the plunger 35, said spring encircling the stem 4| in the manner shown.

In the normal play of the game, the ball 29, which acts as a weight, rests on the head 43 overcoming the force of the relatively light spring 44 to move the plunger stem 4| down causing the contact 42 to engage the contact 40. Current then flows through wire 33, clip 32, sleeve 3|, stem 4|, contacts 42, 49, cap 39, track 24 and wire 25 to maintain a closed circuit to permit operation of the auxiliary reward pay out mechanism, not shown. At such normal time, the panel 23 is in its forward position, and the high part of the cam track 24 holds the main plunger 35 up, so that the head 43 is in the dotted line position shown in Figure 4, where it will be seen that said head is at a normal level slightly above the bottom of the concave dish 21.

If a player now attempts to direct balls from the shooter to the high score value holes l3 by tilting the box l9 and board I2, then the 5 tell-tale ball 29 rolls off the head 43 to the full line position of the ball in Figure 4, where it lodges on the concave dish 21 and cannot roll back onto the seat 43 because the spring 44 became instantly effective to push the head 43 up 0 to the full line position shown in Figure 4. This up movement of the stem 4| has separated the contacts 42, 40 to open, or break, the circuit heretofore described, and as a result the pay off mechanism in said circuit becomes inoperative. Thus, 15 the attempt at cheating is no avail. The remaining balls to be shot by the projector 4 can still be played but the pay off mechanism cannot now work. In the meanwhile the spring 44 holds the head 43 at such a high level that it is 20 impossible to roll the ball 29 back onto the rest 43 by further tilting of the box H].

To reset the game for normal play, must insert another coin in the slide 2|, to permit said slide to be pushed into the box. This 25 movement of the slide as heretofore described pushes the panel 29 to the right as herein illustrated, causing the lower end of the heavy plunger 35 to ride to the low end of the cam truck 24 as shown in full lines in Figures 2 and 3. This 30 permits the ball 29 to gravitate down the sloped bottom of the dish 2'! from the dotted line position in Figure 3 to the full line position in said figure, the ball 29 now resting on the head 43. The head 43 in this position has its flange 36 35 resting-0n the shoulder 34 to limit the down movementof the plunger 35. The weight of the ball 29 overcomes the spring 44 and the contacts 42, 49 are closed. When the slide 2| is released the panel 20, as is the practice in games of this 40 kind, moves automatically to the left. During such movement the cam track 24 engaging the cap 39 pushes the plunger 35 up to the starting position shown in dotted lines in Figure 4. The high part of the track 24 thus holds the main 4.5 plunger up, and the weight of the ball 29 on the rest head 43 holds the supplementary stem plunger 4| down to close the contacts 46, 42.

From this disclosure it will now be appreciated that an improved, simple, fool-proof'anti-cheat 50 device has been provided which makes efforts at tilting the game futile.

It is the intention to cover all such changes and modifications of the illustrative example of the mechanism herein disclosed, which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as indicated by the definitions thereof comprising the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a game having a substantially horizontal play board, of a tell-tale device, operatively associated with the board comprising a member formed with a well above said board, a main plunger slidable in the. well member and through the board, a supplementary plunger 5 slidable in the main plunger spring means urging the supplementary plunger upwardly, a ball rest on the supplementary plunger, and a ball in the well adapted at times to lodge on said rest to lower the supplementary plunger against the force of the spring means.

2. The combination with a game having an upper board and a lower slidable board, of a tell-tale device therefor comprising a well having a dished bottom carried on the upper board, a

the player tilt indicator operatively associated from reseating on the supplementary plunger,

and means controlled by sliding the lower board to reseat the ball on the supplementary plunger.

3. The combination with a game having an upper board and a lower slidable board, of a I tell-tale device therefor comprising a well having a dished bottom carried on the upper board, a free ball confined in the well, a freely slidable vertical plunger in the well and upper board, a supplementary plunger carried in the first plunger for relative movement with respect thereto, contacts for an electric circuit carried by the lower ends of said plungers, said ball adapted normally to seat on and hold the supplementary plunger down to close the contacts and the circuit, said ball leaving the supplementary plunger when the game is tilted, means to elevate the supplementary plunger when the ball leaves same to open the contacts, means formed on the upper end of the supplementary plunger to prevent the ball from reseating on the supplementary plunger, and means controlled by sliding the lower board to reseat the ball on the supplementary plunger.

4. The combination with a game having a play board, of a tell-tale device comprising a member on the board having a cylindrical well formed with a concave bottom and a vertical bore, a first vertical plunger slidably mounted in the well member, a second vertical plunger slidably mounted in the first plunger, said first plunger extending below the second plunger and having a rounded bottom end, means engageable with said bottom end to move said first plunger up or down, a free ball in the well, contacts carried by i the plungers and closed when the ball rests on the second plunger to move it down relative to the first plunger, said ball leaving the second plunger when the game is tilted, and means to raise the second plunger in the well relative to the first plunger when the ball is tilted therefrom to prevent it from rolling back onto said second plunger and to hold said contacts open.

5. The combination with a game having a substantially horizontal board and a cover thereover and spaced therefrom, of a tell-tale device on the board comprising a ball containing well member surrounded by a vertical wall spaced from the cover, said ball being of a larger diameter than the space between the cover and wall, contacts below the board, and a plunger mechanism controlled by the ball for engaging and disengaging the contacts.

6. The combination with a game comprising a substantially horizontal play board, of a tell-tale with said board, the indicator comprising a plunger vertically movable through the board, a supplementary vertical plunger movably associated with the first plunger for relative independent movement, contacts carried on the lower ends of the plungers and located below said board, and means including a confined free rolling tell-tale ball above the board adapted to lodge on the supplementary plunger to lower it to close the contacts, and means for raising the supplementary plunger when the game is tilted and the ball rolls therefrom to open the contacts.

'7. The combination with a game comprising a substantially horizontal play board, of a tell-tale tilt indicator operatively associated with the board, the indicator comprising a first plunger vertically and movably mounted in the board, a second plunger vertically and movably carried in the first plunger, contacts on the lower ends or the plungers, and a tell-tale confined free rolling ball above the board adapted to lodge on the second plunger to weight it down for closing the contacts.

8. The combination with a game comprising a substantially horizontal play board, of a tell-tale tilt indicator operatively associated with the board, the indicator comprising a first vertical plunger movably mounted in the board, a second vertical plunger movably carried in the first plunger, contacts on the lower ends of the plungers, a spring to raise the second plunger and hold the contacts separated, and a tell-tale ball adapted to rest on the second plunger to hold it down to overcome the spring and by its weight hold the contacts closed.

9. The combination with a game having a substantially horizontal play board, of a tell-tale device operatively associated with the board and comprising a member formed with a well presenting a substantially horizontal bottom sloped toward its center, a main plunger vertically slidable centrally in the well member and having its upper end disposed in the bottom of the well member, a supplementary plunger vertically slidable in the main plunger, means between the plungers for holding the supplementary plunger with its top end raised in the bottom of the well, a free rolling ball located in the well, a support for the main plunger adapted to be moved to cause the plungers to drop whereby the free ball may roll onto and seat on the upper end of the supplementary plunger, and contacts for an electric circuit held closed when the ball is thus seated on the supplementary plunger, said ball leaving said supplementary plunger when the play board is tilted to cause the supplementary plunger to be moved upwardly in the well to open the contacts.

10. The combination with a game having a substantially horizontal board, of a tell-tale device operatively associated with the board comprising a member on the board having a circular wall and concave bottom to form a well, a free ball in said well, a plunger slidable in the member and through the board, a supplementary spring pressed vertical plunger slidably mounted in the first plunger and having an upper end adapted to be lowered to receive the ball which may gravitate thereonto and come to rest thereon to hold the spring pressed plunger down whereby to hold closed contacts for an electric circuit carried by the plungers, said board when tilted causing the ball to leave the seat on the supplementary plunger whereby the said plunger is pressed upwardly to separate the contacts.

HERBERT G. BREITENSTEIN. 

